1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a remote control system based on the Internet and a method thereof. Especially, the present invention relates to a remote controlling method of a controller through Internet websites and data storage and a system therefor.
2. Description of the Related Arts
The most important merit of the Internet is an inter-communication ability regardless of the operating systems. That is, various electronic items that are adapted to communicate by an Internet telecommunication protocol, e.g. TCP/IP, can communicate mutually despite having operating systems that are different from each other or lacking an operating system. And they can communicate with the reliability independent of costs, time and distance.
In another words, a massive amount of data can be transferred without the need for control by a Central Hub Communication Center. Rather, Distribution Communication Management, which depends upon the state of the network, may select various routes at any given moment.
An IPAC (Internet Protocol Adapter/Converter) transforms the digital or analog data inputted from any devices into data that is transmittable on the Internet and outputs the data if the data's purpose and content are clear.
Now we explain about the IPAC's application to a fuel tank system for vehicles, which is one of the biggest businesses in petroleum industry, as described below.
First, the information on the exact fuel quantity and on the quantity to supply to the general public is necessary to the operator of the fuel tank system.
Second, a continuous inspection of the state of the fuel tank and of an environment contamination is necessary.
To achieve the above purposes, the U.S., European and other countries recommend installation of a tank monitor in gas stations and factories that are certified by the Ministry of Environment of U.S.
The known art, however, fails to disclose a method to easily, exactly and quickly transmit such data, creating inconvenience and waste.
As indicated above, the IPAC can be applied to the fuel tank field as well as to every field having electric signals.
In many cases, as the IPAC should be operated without the need for manual intervention, the IPAC should be set up remotely and the IPAC system should be able to change in accordance with the needs of an other party's system.
A related prior art in this field is an U.S. Pat. No. 5,966,427 “Apparatus and Method for Troubleshooting Internet Protocol Telephony Networks”, which was filed in 30 Sep. 1997 and assigned to Siemens Information, Communications Networks, Inc.
This patent relates to a system and a method for finding error by the Internet Protocol Telephone Network (IPTN) and comprises numbers of input/output members to connect the device to one of sites in the IPTN. A system controller connected to one of the connecting members receives/transmits digital control messages and sets up a two-way audio telecommunication link in the IPTN. A system control user interface connected to the system controller makes user order a call to remote telephone. A converter connected to one of the connecting members converts digital audio signals received from the remote telephone to analog digital signals and converts analog audio signals generated from a microphone to digital audio signals to transmit to the remote telephone. The interface makes synchronized data transmission easy by synchronizing with the remote telephone. Another related prior art this technology is an adapter for an analog IP telephone error checking device.
Another prior art related to this field is a device called TLS350 sold by the U.S company Veeder-Root. This device controls and takes data by using a remote modem call or a facsimile machine. But, this device has a limit to a data collecting and reading method. That is, this device requires an investigation of target peripheral devices through direct communication between a main computer and a remote peripheral devices by a remote keyboard operation and telephone or facsimile. But, it becomes to be difficult to finish the polling process within a predetermined time as the number of the monitored peripheral devices increases. This method requires high cost and it is impossible to directly manage the devices monitored from the remote site. A significant shortcoming of such devices of the known art are their a limited application to only specific devices and failure to act as open communication device.